New Alienware m15 - 2018 with 8th Gen Intel core i7

New Alienware m15 is the lightest and thinnest 15” gaming laptop ever from Alienware

Alienware m15 hands on


Notebookcheck preview
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Bette...els-and-GTX-1070-Max-Q-graphics.320842.0.html


Alienware m15 laptop sports thinnest Dell gaming design, Nvidia Max-Q GPUs
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018...s-to-dell-gaming-in-new-alienware-m15-laptop/

 

I hope they upgraded their cooling system better with this redesign of chassis. The size looks good. It makes more sense to pair with Alienware Graphics Amplifier. I like that.

 

Notebookcheck preview
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Bette...els-and-GTX-1070-Max-Q-graphics.320842.0.html

 

Video preview side by side with the 13 R3

 

i like the bottom slim design, but the top bezel size is not balanced.. also the keyboard is bad as hell. they should have sticked with their current lineup, and the touchpad.. and wth there is no alienfx lights anywhere.. this is more like dells gaming lineup... shame to see alienware backing off from my their trademark alienware tron lights etc.. its a bad design choice.. atleast my personal thought.

 

Good lord, that shiny bezel! What were they thinking? Shaking my head at the decision-making process that would lead to using a nice, reflection-free matte display in this thing and then slapping on a mirror-finish bezel that doesn't match the rest of the external surface finishes on the machine. Trashy looking.

 

That is one ugly machine. What is up with those bezels, yuck. When you have sleek beautiful machines like the Razer Blade 15, Aero 15X or even the MSI, why make such an ugly abomination? You just had to make a slightly thicker/bigger version of those to improve cooling - but did you have to create this disgusting monstrosity?

This is something I expect from 2012, not 2018. It looks even worse than many of the budget gaming options by HP, Acer and others.

 

This new design they have taken a step back from the R3 models.

 

Wow, that is ugly and a step back....and not in a good retro way.

 

Why does it have to look like an HP Omen with the lid not meeting the bottom? I cant stand those rounded edges

 

Clearly the team were high on some strong stuff. What a waste of resources.

 

I could get behind this, so long as the build quality and keyboard are tops. I need a smaller machine.

 

why not xps 15?

 

And the Alienware 17 configs with GTX 1080 GPU are gone from Dell website, are they cooking something else apart from the new M15 ?

 

the i9s are gone the 17 i7s 1080 config is still available currently

 

Interesting thoughts guys! Personally i'm not in love with the shape, tho i love that they've finally gone thin and light-ish. Its a market shift they just can't ignore. I think they could have gone more stylish with the design. As you say, the Razer Blade 15 is smashing it at the moment and that has an industrial design. The MSI and Gigabyte thin and lights also look quite muted. But without the lights (and why no per key lighting?) it could be a hard sell.

The pros are the dell discounts and warranty really! As theres so many 8750H with 1070 Max-Q out there now! But surely this is a chassis that can handle the 2070 max q when it comes out. and think thats what they were trying to say on the AMA video.

Look forward to the reviews!

 

That’s the first thing that caught my attention, It ruins the whole look.
I could forgive the thick top and bottom bezels but why make them so glossy? Dumb decision.
At least they got rid of the lights.

 

I am a die hard alienware fan. I have owned over a dozen laptops (Alienware) since 2007 and 3 Desktops. I am now deciding between this new model and the Razer Blade 15. What do you guys think?

 

I think you should wait for reviews and see then.
On looks alone the Blade 15 has it beat easy, what’s the release date on this anyway?

 

Trying to be what the razer blade is...and failing to do so. Vapor chamber "optional, at a later date", already standard on razer blade. Alienware used to have one of the best keyboards, now conformational to chiclet style, but probably crappier than razer. trackpad backlight gone, alienware name illumination gone, lcd cover side marker lights gone, just to cut costs. What is that disgusting grille along the top row? I have T61p...top end grilles look nasty over time, get filled with dirt, dust, etc, very hard to clean. bottom plate screams 300$ el cheapo laptop. Remember when the bottom cover used to come with a customized metal tag? Still unreasonably chunky and thermal performance will probably will be as bad or worse than before, will require repaste upon receipt, although this is now an industry wide problem. Oh Alienware, how far you've fallen.....

 

Getting rid of all the lights is not a bad thing in my opinion, it’s the unknown thermal performance that has me worried.

 

DELL went cheapo and skipped use of Vapor chamber. Not even the cheapest vapor chamber heatspreader for the CPU part was it room for. Go thinner and thinner but not implement today’s cooling tech and same time put premium price point... Oh’well

 

this is the model i would def call a TURDBOOK.. disgusting design language, removed Lights, Ugly keyboard, and what not.

 

thats why i'll jump on razor blade 15 : //

 

umm didn't the new razer also skip vapor chamber cooling?

 

You mean the budget version they made, to be cheaper - yes. I would not buy the new budget razer laptop, it isn't quite as ugly as this monstrosity, but it is still ****.

 

correct and I am digging my xps 9570 right now, glad I didn't wait for this m15 though!

 

While im glad they finally decided to make a more compact 15" laptop, I can't help but feel they really didnt try when designing this unit. I normally don't mind larger bezels. But having thin side bezels and thick ones on top and bottom makes it look like it's a prototype. So long as the cooling is good it should be fine though

 

If it had next gen 2xxx series GPU’s it would be pretty amazing ( I’m sure at some point they will ) but with next gen GPU’s coming up fairly soon I can’t get excited for any new product no matter how good or bad it may be.
Update:
Release has been confirmed for 10/25 in the USA.

 

Sorry but i don't like this new laptop. It miss the classic Alienware keyboard that is amazing. It's a non-sense, better buy a Dell G3/G5 for half the price.

 

G3/G5 screen is straight garbage though. I literally returned mine within minutes of turning on. No idea how people stand it

 

Not to mention the corners. On the G7, didn't realize it until I took it home but the corners are not round and fairly sharp. Not enough to slice you open or anything, but fairly sharp. As it was my natural resting point for my hands. they dug into me pretty bad. Screen is bad, I had the LG and it was lacking for sure. But it was the corners on the G7 that did it for me.

 

Now that I've returned the base model Blade, I'll be keeping an eye on this one. I don't like the glossy bezel or grill on the top but if temps are halfway reasonable then it may do well. Haven't owned an AW since 2014, though, and from reading reviews it looks like the temps are a big "if" there.

 

They should bring m14 r2 body language and shrink the cassis and bezel, Best Alienware Design imo, not this unbalanced screen and keyboard design, then I would start thinking over Blade design.

 

Looks like we'll see reviews tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/dave2d/status/1055164066904268800?s=20

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

Is this the official Alienware m15 thread?

 

Looks like this was made today... http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/official-alienware-m15-owners-lounge.825553/

There's a few threads on here for it, but being marked official I suspect most folks will go to that from here on out

 

Haha funny to see you here cloudx! I am now here after your review of the base blade.
Just ordered my m15 today, went for the 1070, 144hz 1080p and 256gb ssd with large battery.

Looked at the service manual and the large battery does not obscure the second ssd slot so I can have plenty of storage.

 

Great minds think alike as I just ordered one, too! LOL. Only difference is I went with the 512 ssd. I was on the fence between this and the Aero, but after contacting Gigabyte to confirm the 15w and 15x, the support guy didn't know the models. Left a bad taste in my mouth.

Hoping for a good one. If not, then it may be time to throw in the towel on this generation of PCs. November 15 is going to be a pain to wait for lol.

 

I had an aorus and the customer service and qc was so bad I would never touch another gigabyte.

I have 2 x 1tb evo 960’s here waiting so went for the lowest config available and will switch them out on arrival.

 

I was just on the phone telling my wife about the experience with Gigabyte and she even said wonder what it would be like if you had an actual issue. Disappointing because the price was good and was impressed with out of the box performance on Bob's stream last night.

I did the 512 since it wasn't much more than what I can buy online (30ish bucks). Figured it was worth it so that I can load a game or two and test the machine. If I like it, I'll add a 1tb ssd to it to hold my games. Only downside is it'll be a lottery of what drive I get I imagine, but oh well.

 

Almost bought a base model razer blade 15 and fortunately I saw your review before placing the order. Thank you for the great posts!
Now I placed an order for the Alienware m15 just like you did. The service manual shows a lot of good things about the alienware, and the only thing I don't like judging from the pictures is the SHINY BEZELS... Those glaring plastics just feel cheap. Hope some after market stickers could fix the look.

 

Same! Hate those shiny bezels. I actually debating not ordering it due to those but figured I'd get used to them in short order. Just hope it runs better than the Blade. Grats on your order!

 

How Did ALIENWARE Do This?

 

100C in a short 3DM Firestrike physics test doesn't smell well... http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...m15-owners-lounge.825553/page-5#post-10813605

 

Are you really surprised? The design was already a recipe for disaster. Reviewers almost always lie to make sure they continue to get review units = channel revenue.

 

On top it seems Dell later will put in unlocked i9 in this 100C disaster... https://www.notebookcheck.net/Bette...els-and-GTX-1070-Max-Q-graphics.320842.0.html

Dell's oc profiles for the Alienware's..

 

Yes this! Was also thinking exactly same thing...since I’m a newbie ...
M11, M14x and 15 from ~2014? Was my favorite laptop design, kind want put new hardware on it or somehow make it work on nowadays games with egpu solution...but seems have to keep it in my dream

 

What performance improvement do you get from a GTX 1060 OC than the standard GTX 1060?
Really wish it had the GTX 2xxx series GPU’S but I’m sure we will see them at some point.

 

wow thats so thin it's hard to trust it.